Western Friend

Being Practically Spiritual: Margaret Fell and John Woolman on Integrating the Inward and Outward Life

By Michael Birkel

Michael Birkel is a professor of religion at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. The crowd of Earlhamites greeting Michael over the course of North Pacific Yearly Meeting’s sessions attests to the popularity of his Quakerism 101 class, often taken by freshman at Earlham. Michael began his address with a slew of wildly funny Quaker jokes- which, sadly, are not captured here, but his delight in sharing the life still found in the writings of our Quaker ancestors shines through quite clearly.

It was a delight to communicate with ...

Yearly Meeting Comparison Chart

In last year’s September/October special Annual Sessions issue, we published a chart comparing the three unprogrammed Yearly Meetings (Pacific, North Pacific and Intermountain) on a host of items. Friends asked for that to be made available online, so here it is. Please click on the graphic below to bring it up in a larger window- it’s much more legible that way.

Is there something you’d like to know about the three Yearly Meetings in this year’s chart? Send in a comment ...

North Pacific Yearly Meeting 2011 Wrapup

Saturday’s first plenary tackled two weighty topics. First of these was the recommendation from an ad-hoc committee that NPYM affiliate with Friends General Conference. The committee began by offering more background on the process. Following a request from Olympia and South Mountain Meetings that NPYM consider affiliation, the committee was assembled of Friends who could hold the concern lightly (e.g., who didn’t already have their minds made up.) The committee then circulated information and queries among monthly and quarterly meetings in NPYM, soliciting conversations and feedback from both groups and individuals. They then compiled an unweighted ...